Gongtai

Overview

Gongtai was a member of the Sakda clan of the Bordered Red Banner during the early Qing Dynasty. Volume 35 of the officially compiled *General Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners* records that his family originally lived in Ningguta. They submitted to the Qing Dynasty at the beginning of the dynasty. His son, Sange, served as a zuoling (banner-company commander), and his grandson, Naqin, served as a Hujunxiao (military officer in charge of defense) during the campaign against the Dzungars. He died in battle at Hetong Hurhanaor and was posthumously awarded the title of Yunqiwei (military officer). His son, Erden'e, inherited this title. Gongtai is a personal name and should not be mistaken for a noble title.

The zuoling managed the basic household registration and military records of the Eight Banners. The Hujunxiao led their subordinate guards and performed military duties such as patrols. The Yunqiwei was a hereditary title awarded after death. Sange and Naqin held different positions, and Erden'e's inheritance of the hereditary title does not automatically mean he succeeded his father as Hujunxiao.

Ningguta was a historical military and political region. Relics in present-day Ning'an can provide regional references. The early ancestral home cannot be directly identified as a specific residence in the later Xincheng. The three characters here refer to the son's name, not the number of three zuoling (military officers); the grandchildren who died in battle clearly did not belong to Gong Tai himself. Specific details regarding ancestral home, the year and month of the battle, the organization of the guard, and intermediate relatives are pending verification; the original record of surrendering at the beginning of the dynasty is retained.